Hard Times by Charles Dickens in the year 1857 paints the picture of an industrial society where secure joint families were disintegrated into small nuclear ones, he calls it the tearing of the social security net, and therefore, when individual was unable to take care of his own needs, the society realized the importance of protecting the individual and his family. This led to the enactment of poor laws in Great Britain to provide minimal food and shelter in a workhouse to the poor. Private savings, compensation by employer’s medieval guilds, mutual aid or mutual benefit societies, private insurance and life insurance are some of the evolutionary forms of social security efforts. This throws light on two facts, that social security is dispensed by institutions such as families, state etc and private enterprises etc, and that it is dispensed in the time of crisis, when there is a situation breeding insecurity and when the individual is not able to take care of himself and his family.

These aspects are ‘put into place’ technically by the definition of SS provided by ILO, i.e. "the security that society furnishes through appropriate organization against certain risks to which its members are perennially exposed. These risks are essentially contingencies against which an individual of small means cannot effectively provide by his own ability or foresight alone or even in private combination with his fellows.”

This stresses on the fact tat social security is provided for protecting people against contingencies, these contingencies as per ILO are sickness, medical care for the worker, maternity, unemployment, work injury, death of worker, invalidity/disability and widowhood. SS in Indian context for the mentioned contingencies is provided by Employee State Insurance Act-1948(ESI Act), Workmen’s Compensation Act-1923 and Maternity Benefits Act, 1961 and several schemes and programs launched by the government for certain sections of the society which requires special attention.

SOCIAL SECURITY : INDIA

The right based perspective to SS for people is seen in the constitutional provisions laying them through various articles. Article 41 of the Constitution requires that the State should within the limits of its economic capacity make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement. Article 42 requires that the State should make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. Article 43 of the Constitution speaks of state's responsibility to provide social security to the citizens of this country. Article 47 requires that the State should raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and improvement of public health as among its primary duties. The obligations cast on the State in the above Articles constitute Social Security.

SOCIAL SECURITY A NEED

Therefore the need for protection against such contingent situations is the basic right of individuals which ought to be respected by the state (particularly the ones that are welfare oriented); and emanates from the basic need of people to feel secure. As Humanist theorist in Psychology, Abraham Maslow puts security after physiological needs, and says that man cannot be satisfies unless the security needs are fulfilled, there is ample significance given to this aspect.

Therefore the major premise is that protection against these contingencies is the basic needs of humans and to ensure quality performance and conforming to the duties and norms of the society, security regarding the future, disseminated though SS is necessary.

Since there is increasing inequality in terms of income, inefficient trickle down policy, population busting at seams and increasing global importance to development, empowerment and Human Rights, the need for providing SS has become more and more important. Also to ensure enhanced performance and strengthening individuality and psychological support which is the inherent and basic need of humans.

RIGHTS AS NEEDS

One of the primary duties of a welfare state is to meet the well being and enhance the quality of life of it’s citizens, and this is facilitated largely by the SS , therefore at global level SS can be used as a scale to measure the development of a country.The government may have enhanced allocation for its social sector in the current budget but the net expenditure as percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) is still too low in comparison to some of the developed economies. The total combined expenditure of central and state governments on social services in 2008-09 was 6.72% of GDP at current prices. This is too low when compared to what some western countries spend on SS. Germany leads others by spending a significant 25% of its GDP on social services that include education, sports, art and culture, medical and public health, family welfare, social security and nutrition.

increased expenditure in social sector also creates space for disagreements as controversies say that the amount disseminated though SS does not substitute the amount of the work/performance of the people. For instance in the MB Act of 1961, s.10 says that in case of illness or absence of prenatal care, leave with wages with maximum period of one month of medical bonus of Rs. 250/- is provided, which is a meager amount. Therefore SS as these with financial assistance can do justice to the needs of beneficiaries only if they are adequately distributed.

Other argument against SS is that it takes away the need for self esteem and intrinsic motivation to work by inducing dependency, however I this situation a counter argument can be provided that SI is based on the premise that the beneficiaries also have to contribute to the SS and that state has come to believe no individual or his family should be allowed to fall below a minimum socially desirable standard of living, irrespective of the causes leading to his economic deprivation and without appropriating the causal factors for contingencies.

Therefore it is an unwritten law that SS arises out of the basic and inherent needs of people, and is essential for his physical, mental and social refuge and well-being, however there needs to be affective mechanisms and models evolved from time to tome to monitor the changes in the need pattern of the people and developmental goals of the state to ensure welfare, empowerment and good quality of life.